Which Spartan king led an invasion of the Persian Empire in 396 BCE?

Agesilaus II was the Spartan king who led an invasion of the Persian Empire in 396 BCE.

Agesilaus crossed into Asia Minor after Sparta’s conflict with Persia intensified following the Peloponnesian War. He first campaigned against Persian forces and their local allies in western Anatolia. His expedition continued the earlier Spartan support for Greek cities in Asia Minor, but Persian diplomacy and financial support for Sparta’s enemies eventually weakened his position.

In 394 BCE, Agesilaus was recalled to Greece when the Corinthian War threatened Sparta. He marched back overland, fighting the Battle of Coronea before continuing into the Peloponnese. His return meant that the campaign in Asia Minor did not achieve a lasting conquest.

Agesilaus is sometimes confused with Leonidas I, who ruled earlier and died at Thermopylae in 480 BCE. Agesilaus belonged to the Eurypontid royal house and ruled during the fourth century BCE.